David Vossbrink

Angelique Gaeta, San Jose’s assistant to the city manager. Credit: LinkedIn

Just before 9 a.m. Friday morning, a reporter ran into Angelique Gaeta, a longtime administrator who runs the city’s medical marijuana program, at City Hall’s coffee cart.

After some small talk, an interview for Tuesday was set up — a chance to chat about medical marijuana deliveries in San Jose — an idea being mulled by the City Council.

But by Tuesday morning, Gaeta was gone. City Hall is mum about why Gaeta, who’s been with the city 15 years, was shown the door.

Gaeta, 46, declined to comment about the situation Tuesday, but said she was “surprised” by the decision.

“I’m looking into all options available to protect both my legal rights and my reputation that I’ve earned of hard work and doing what is in the best interest of the city,” she said in a statement. “I’ve been with the city for 15 years and have always received positive performance reviews from both the City Attorney’s Office and the City Manager’s Office.”

A top official at the San Jose City Manager’s Office is being accused of lying and making threats.

Angelique Gaeta, the city’s medical marijuana czar, is under fire after an “internal meeting” with 15 weed collectives on Dec. 1. Gaeta, who’s in charge of regulating the marijuana shops, allegedly pressured them not to support a 2016 ballot measure to replace the city’s pot rules.

“She even went so far as to threaten that if support were given to the initiative, she would immediately end all city cooperation with the collectives,” said a letter signed by 10 of the groups. “We are disheartened that the very regulator from which we expect a sense of truth and fair dealing is found to be lacking these very basic precepts.”

Gaeta hung up when asked for comment and didn’t return calls.

City Manager Norberto Duenas, Gaeta’s boss, says he was “disappointed” by the letter, but quickly dismissed the claims.